(C) Daily Kos This story was originally published by Daily Kos and is unaltered. . . . . . . . . . . The Ugly Americans [1] ['This Content Is Not Subject To Review Daily Kos Staff Prior To Publication.', 'Backgroundurl Avatar_Large', 'Nickname', 'Joined', 'Created_At', 'Story Count', 'N_Stories', 'Comment Count', 'N_Comments', 'Popular Tags'] Date: 2023-05-27 Just this past week, the GOP Governor of South Carolina Henry McMaster told his colleagues at the South Carolina Republican Party Convention, “I look forward to the day that Democrats are so rare we have to hunt them with dogs .” It was the 2nd time he had invoked “dogs” when referring to members of the other major political party (the first time being at a fund-raiser in 2018, where he defined Democrats, generically, as “dogs”). Like so many other MAGA Republicans, his defense was to dismiss the comment as a joke and further insult Democrats as being too thin-skinned to be able to take a “joke.” The joke would be bad enough if it was just a comparison of Democrats to dogs, implying a status less than human for members of that party (not to mention the unnecessary insult to mans best friend). But this elected Republican went so far as to suggest violence, even death to other humans, simply because they belong to the opposite political party. And you know what’s going to happen to him for his call to violence? Nothing at all. Yes, McMaster currently “faces criticism” (which in all likelihood has already passed by the time you’re reading this), but he couldn’t care less, because this kind of public behavior towards “the other” has been completely normalized, by design, by the new Republican party. The disgraced, twice-impeached, former President, convicted sex abuser and MAGA Republican leader has buried the bar on common decency and has been rewarded by a news media & politics duopoly whose profits have soared as a result of their complicity in the ascent of the stench enveloping American democracy. Don Corleorange didn’t start the ugly. But he invited it into the American mainstream, and demonstrated the impunity with which it could be expressed as a tool to effectively stoke division among neighbors. With his leadership and the support of the Republican party, ugly has now become a trademark sideshow to the underlying fascist assault on our democracy, brought forth in the name of MAGA. What’s truly amazing is how easily the propensity for ugliness overcame traditional Republican values. Ironically, the pussy-grabber-in-chief quickly became a hero of the “family values” crowd. It set the stage for double-murderer Kyle Rittenhouse to become a MAGA hero. At the public figures level, we have been subjected to a veritable “American Idol” of un-civil behavior by contestants the likes of which our society has rarely seen, if ever. How Christian of them. In recent years, we’ve witnessed many MAGA ‘thought leaders’ stand out with ugly behavior. Here are just a few examples (by no means exhaustive): Republican Rep. Paul Gosar posted a photoshopped video to his Twitter and Instagram accounts showing him appearing to kill Democratic Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and attacking President Joe Biden. Freshman GOP House member Marjorie Taylor Greene has singlehandedly laid claim to a litany of ugly and offensive behavior directed at her perceived enemies, including (1) following and publicly harassing David Hogg, a student survivor of the Parkland shooting, (2) referring to Representative Ilhan Omar, a Muslim congresswoman, as a "jihad squad" member, (3) promoting social media posts calling for violence against prominent Democrats, including “liking” a comment that called for "a bullet to the head" of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. In the “turd doesn’t fall far from the shit-hole” category, son-of-Donnie retweeted a photo of a “ Paul Pelosi Halloween costume ” showing underwear and a hammer, as a supposedly clever response to a violent home invasion of the Pelosi residence that sent Paul Pelosi into surgery with a fractured skull after a hammer attack. And as if to permanently lay claim to the grand crown of ugliness, Trump himself distributed a video on his Twitter account, edited to show himself pummeling a person with “CNN” superimposed on their face. In doing so, he didn’t just open the door to a new level of public ugliness, he further elevated and amplified it to where it naturally resonated with the ugly vibe in many, many Americans across the country, and continues to do so. It was a loud call to the darker and more dangerous side of the American psyche. Part of what makes the above sampling of MAGA ugly so disturbing is that actions like these by so called “leaders” serve to encourage and justify the same or worse levels of ugliness in everyday individuals who have succumbed to the onslaught of disinformation from right-wing sources, and who now see themselves as modern political or culture warriors. Their tactics need no longer have any limits whatsoever. In their minds, they are “patriots” and their ends justify their means, however ugly. Want to piss off your neighbors in the name of MAGA? Yeah, fly that huge “Fuck Biden” flag off the back of your truck, right above your “Rittenhouse Rules” bumper sticker. Really piss off those libs. Yeah, we get it, you’re an idiot. And you’re hoping someone will flip you off so you can get in their face, maybe even kick some ass. It may be ugly, but that’s your point. Thank you Republicans. Nice job making America great. Back in 2009, Republican House member Joe Wilson interrupted President Obama's health care speech to Congress by shouting, "You lie!” It was unprecedented, as ugly a moment as Congress had ever seen, but there was one big difference between that highly disrespectful outburst and the new levels of ugly ushered in by MAGA Republicans: Wilson’s attack was soon followed with an apology . The apology was roundly supported by Republicans of that era, separate from the support of Democrats. Back then there was a general consensus that an important norm of civility had been breached by Wilson and needed to be mended. President Obama’s Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel, who accepted Wilson’s apology on the President's behalf, stated “We can disagree without being disagreeable.” What a concept - We can disagree without being disagreeable. Imagine that. What differentiates one side from the other, when it comes right down to it, is civility. It’s the common denominator that needs to be in place for a society to be functional. Debates over policy (something we haven’t really seen in a while) are the easy part. But those debates ultimately have no meaning if one side seeks a civil society and the other side seeks a civil war. Meanwhile, the real civil war is already going on. It’s the war between those who are civil and those who are not. Trump and the MAGA Republicans have been cultivating a crop of “ugly Americans” for some time. Followers who are willing to go “all-in” on cultural and political goals, because they mold themselves to be just like their political leaders — here to save the Republic from those pesky people in the majority. You know, the ones who are not deserving of common decency or respect, even if those “enemies” do represent more than 80% of the electorate. The sooner the ugly disappears from our socio-political environment, the better. There are too many important areas where we need to come together as Americans, before it’s too late. Whether we can become truly respectful of one another, despite political differences, remains to be seen. Perhaps our better angels will guide us, and we can start by roundly rejecting the ugly among us. With that accomplished, the rest will come more easily. (This article also appears on Richard Lang’s Substack, along with previous posts) [END] --- [1] Url: https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2023/5/27/2171763/-The-Ugly-Americans Published and (C) by Daily Kos Content appears here under this condition or license: Site content may be used for any purpose without permission unless otherwise specified. via Magical.Fish Gopher News Feeds: gopher://magical.fish/1/feeds/news/dailykos/